U.S. retail sales rise scant 0.1% in December

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Sales at U.S. retailers increased 0.1% in December, the government said Thursday, in a report that bucked expectations of stronger sales during the holiday period.

The Commerce Department said sales rose to a seasonally adjusted $400.6 billion, an advance of 6.5% from the prior year. Holiday sales — defined as November and December retail sales excluding autos, gasoline, food services and non-store outlets — grew 4.1% from last year, according to calculations by IHS Global Insight.

Ahead of the report, economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected monthly sales to rise by 0.3% from November. Sales rose an upwardly revised 0.4% in November, compared with a 0.2% increase originally reported. Sales were also revised up slightly in October.

The sales data are seasonally adjusted, but they aren’t adjusted for price changes.

As often happens with data on retail sales issued immediately after the holidays, the government’s statistics didn’t bear out the conventional wisdom.

“Apparently, all those reports of a robust holiday shopping season were made by people too much into the holiday spirits as retail sales did not surge in December,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, Inc.

Sales at the nation’s malls were lower in December. Sales at general merchandise stores fell 0.8%, including a 0.2% decrease at department stores.

Sales at clothing stores rose 0.7%, however.

“The holiday season may not have wrapped up quite as nicely as anticipated, particularly given the steps taken by many retailers to draw in last-minute shoppers through hefty discounts,” wrote Jim Baird, chief investment strategist for Plante Moran Financial Advisors, in a research note.

On Wall Street, stocks traded in a narrow range on the heels of the sales data as well as the latest reading on U.S. jobless claims. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -0.32%
was down 3 points to 12,438, trimming earlier losses.

December details

Reuters

Sales at electronics stores dropped considerably in December.

Excluding a 1.5% rise in motor vehicles sales, retail sales for the month fell 0.2% — much weaker than the 0.3% gain expected.

Sales at gasoline stores fell 1.6% in December. Excluding autos and gasoline, sales were flat on the month.

So-called “core” sales, which exclude autos, gasoline, and building materials, fell 0.2% in December. This was the one and only drop in core sales seen during 2011.

Motor vehicle sales rose 1.5% in December after rising 0.9% in November.

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